Clone Wars team being disbanded, Disney to use regular TV division for next SW tv

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The interview was quite well done, and Dave seems optimistic about the future. I have to toot my own horn here, because there was only time for one listener question, and they picked one of mine and mentioned my name! It's around the 1 hour, 12 minute mark if you want to hear it. I asked, if you knew going into it that it would only last five seasons, would you have done anything differently? Dave said no, he always planned on making it until they told him to stop, and he hopes to be able to have a part in telling the remaining stories somehow at some point. He made the point that it would have been hard to have a better ending than the series did, and that they were indeed sort of thinking that these episodes were going to be able to also function as a series finale. He noted that he would rather have people wanting more than wishing it had ended sooner, which is fair.

That's cool. On the other hand, when you represent SSG at some of the upcoming conventions, please come up with harder-hitting questions than that softball.

They didn't really touch on how Disney's animation team figures into this, but the way Dave describes it was like any other TV show coming to an end - when it's done, the crew is disbanded. The gist that I got was that Lucasfilm Animation is still an entity, just currently a significantly smaller one (as it was when The Clone Wars was just in the planning stages) that he hopes will grow as the new project goes forward. But there were no specifics on any of this other than to say that he will remain and so will some of the other people at the company, particularly since George put them in place originally and trained them for the last eight years to be able to tell Star Wars stories. He mentioned Joel Aron and Kilian Plunkett by name, but didn't say anything about their future there, though I would assume that they're safe given their call-outs.

He didn't give particulars on when and how the bonus content would be released, or how much or what it would contain, though the Clovis arc will be released (it was originally bumped when things were moved around this season - it would have resulted in too many episodes, from what he said in another interview). The team is "making sure these stories count" and making sure they're well-produced, and while the episodes don't wrap up everything in a bow, they will answer a few big questions satisfyingly, according to him. Order 66 and how the clones' autonomy plays into that will be addressed, as seen in the preview clip (he also confirmed that the two new Jedi there were based on unused Sith witch concept art). He said the information on the bonus content will be released at the right time, when it will have maximum effectiveness. Maybe this means a convention appearance or something? It was unclear, so I hope he does it at Celebration Europe.

They also discussed the last two arcs of the season. One of the most interesting parts was how he addressed the Satine/Bo-Katan relationship, saying he developed a backstory for them that became one of his favorites. He didn't go into too many particulars, but likened it to Game of Thrones. Basically, Bo-Katan didn't agree with Satine's pacifism, but as Satine rose to power she didn't want it to be public knowledge that she had a sister who had joined Death Watch as that would look bad for her politically, so Bo-Katan wasn't in Satine's life for a time, which is why Obi-Wan didn't know of her.

"Bonus content" sounds like DVDs in the season set the more I hear it. Not thrilled about the Clovis arc either.

The Bo-Katan thing really came through for me, that's almost exactly what I thought it'd be when they revealed it. Good job on their part.

Thanks for the wrap-up on this.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

Kylo Ren - came from Space Brooklyn, although he moved to Space Williamsburg before it was trendy.

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

That's cool. On the other hand, when you represent SSG at some of the upcoming conventions, please come up with harder-hitting questions than that softball.

"Bonus content" sounds like DVDs in the season set the more I hear it. Not thrilled about the Clovis arc either.

The Bo-Katan thing really came through for me, that's almost exactly what I thought it'd be when they revealed it. Good job on their part.

Thanks for the wrap-up on this.

Thanks. That was by far my blandest question - here's the full list I posted should you be so inclined to read them.

1. What will happen to all the many assets created for the series? Will Disney/Lucasfilm be able to use them for future projects?

2. What is happening to the Lucasfilm Animation production facilities at Big Rock Ranch and elsewhere?

3. It wasn't that long ago that George showed up at Celebration VI to show support for his animated series, and just seven months later they are no more. How does George feel about the cancellation of the show(s) and the layoffs at Lucasfilm Animation?

4. If we don't get to see the fates of popular characters like Darth Maul, Cad Bane, Asajj Ventress, and Captain Rex in animated form, is there any chance we would see them as comic stories, novels, or even as straight-to-DVD stories produced by Disney's own animation house? If not, will you be able to share what the plans were for the remainder of the series? Could the recent success of Kickstarter in reviving dead series be of any use here?

5. Is there any chance we could at least get the audio that has already been recorded and paid for - perhaps edited as a radio show by Jimmy Mac?

6. If you had known that the show would only make it to five seasons, would you have done anything differently?

7. We finally got to see Coleman Kcaj briefly in "The Wrong Jedi," but what were the plans for the remaining Jedi Council members Stass Allie and Agen Kolar? We know the model for Stass Allie was created, will we be able to see it? What was the plan for killing off Eeth Koth?

8. Did Tarkin's involvement in the prosecution of Ahsoka have an effect on his relationship with Anakin? Or does Anakin remain largely unaware of Tarkin's involvement since he never saw Tarkin's reports to the Council or most of Tarkin's statements in the trial?

9. Will the long-discussed (and presumably long-finished) Clovis arc finally be released among the "bonus content"?

USA Today has an interview with Dave Filoni and an exclusive clip featuring Plo Koon and the Wolfpack searching through a Tatooine sandstorm in a Turbo Tank.

The most intriguing part of the interview is as follows:

One of the arcs stars Jedi Master Plo Koon (voiced by James Arnold Taylor), who finds a lost lightsaber while on a mission on a sandstorm-laden planet with a platoon of clone troopers. It's the beginning of a mystery, and one that will make the Jedi question their role in the Clone Wars and the universe itself, according to Filoni.

"The Jedi have been fighting a war with an army that was commissioned by one of their own, Jedi Master Syfo-Dias," he says. "But who was Syfo-Dias, and what happened to him? The dark lord of the Sith has woven an intricate web to ensnare the Jedi, but it is not full-proof and sometimes a small clue, and a bit of chance, can lead to the unraveling of the best-laid plans."

Hopefully we'll finally get some answers on this subject! There is still no news on when or where the bonus content will be released, but the animation is nearing completion (and Matthew Wood tweeted today that Skywalker Sound is hard at work on these episodes). It's also unclear whether the Plo Koon arc is the same as the previously-previewed "Order 66" arc or not, but it sounds like it could be separate - if so, that's the Clovis arc, the Order 66 arc, the Plo Koon arc, and Tom Kane mentioned that he was told a Yoda arc would be completed as well. So it sounds like there could be a pretty good amount of TCW still coming.

Hopefully we'll finally get some answers on this subject! There is still no news on when or where the bonus content will be released, but the animation is nearing completion (and Matthew Wood tweeted today that Skywalker Sound is hard at work on these episodes). It's also unclear whether the Plo Koon arc is the same as the previously-previewed "Order 66" arc or not, but it sounds like it could be separate - if so, that's the Clovis arc, the Order 66 arc, the Plo Koon arc, and Tom Kane mentioned that he was told a Yoda arc would be completed as well. So it sounds like there could be a pretty good amount of TCW still coming.

Sounds like they are getting to do more than they thought. This is good news in a year of disappointments so far...

Nowhere in your incoherent ramblings did you come anywhere close to the answer. Thanks to you, everyone in this room is now stupider having heard you. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul. -Billy Madison-

USA Today has an interview with Dave Filoni and an exclusive clip featuring Plo Koon and the Wolfpack searching through a Tatooine sandstorm in a Turbo Tank.

The most intriguing part of the interview is as follows:

Hopefully we'll finally get some answers on this subject! There is still no news on when or where the bonus content will be released, but the animation is nearing completion (and Matthew Wood tweeted today that Skywalker Sound is hard at work on these episodes). It's also unclear whether the Plo Koon arc is the same as the previously-previewed "Order 66" arc or not, but it sounds like it could be separate - if so, that's the Clovis arc, the Order 66 arc, the Plo Koon arc, and Tom Kane mentioned that he was told a Yoda arc would be completed as well. So it sounds like there could be a pretty good amount of TCW still coming.

Now we know the real reason the show got canceled, Disney didn't want to let the cat out of the bag on that one!

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

Kylo Ren - came from Space Brooklyn, although he moved to Space Williamsburg before it was trendy.

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

So there's actually been quite a bit of talk about this, but Detours is just on hold currently. We have 39 finished episodes and around 62 finished scripts. But that entire show was created before the decision to make more Star Wars movies, so our show (which was created by George Lucas) is an animated sitcom in the world of Star Wars, so we had a lot of conversations with Kathleen Kennedy about Star Wars in not just the next 3 years but the next 30 years, and when you're in as privileged a position as we were to be able to work on Star Wars content with its creator, you get a great sense of responsibility to the whole. I was introduced to Star Wars as a child and it was without any ironic or comedic lens, so I saw Darth Vader as scary, and I saw all of those messages very very clearly. We didn't think it made any sense, in anticipation of these new movies coming out, to spend the next 3 years with an animated sitcom as 3 generations' of kids first introduction to the Star Wars universe.

I've had a lot of parents approach me in the last few years where they showed Robot Chicken or Family Guy Star Wars before they showed them regular Star Wars. The writers on Robot Chicken and I are seeing this a lot. The same way we were introduced to classic music through Bugs Bunny or Tom & Jerry, kids are taking our ironic interpretations of He-Man or other pop culture icons and never having the opportunity to meet them sincerely. It's a really bizarre thing to wrap your head around, and because I've witnessed it firsthand, it made me more thoughtful about what we were putting it out.

I do feel that Detours is a timeless bit of entertainment. Media distribution is changing so quickly, so dramatically, that can you even imagine what distribution of content will look like in 5 years? In a day and age when Netflix series are nominated for the top accolades TV has to offer, what is to say what it will look like when the new Star Wars movie comes out? So Detours can sit on a shelf until the Star Wars movie comes out without losing any of its lustre, because what we've created is very funny, very smart and like I said before, timeless.

Interesting that they already have so much work completed here. I totally agree with the thought process here on not wanting kids to be introduced to it right now through comedy . . . though I don't know if it would be much different than them being introduced through Angry Birds, but whatever . . .

Good news! The final unfinished episodes of Clone Wars have been completed. And are coming...

From Dave Filoni's Facebook page:

"Star Wars fans - I have some exciting news! We have wrapped production on all of the remaining Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes, and while that might be sad news in one way, it's good news in another. It means you will finally get to see them. When, exactly, is a detail I cannot yet share. I can confirm that in early 2014 you will be watching the final episodes of The Clone Wars, including one of Master Yoda's most challenging missions. So, get ready. We've got Clone Wars and Rebels coming at you in 2014. Animated Star Wars is alive and well. Trust in the Force my friends.